2026 Kia Sportage: Recalls, Complaints & California Lemon Law

Our Sportage has the panoramic roof. The back half of the roof chattered all of a sudden while nobody was in or around the vehicle. It exploded outwards.

NHTSA #11731920

When driving my Kia Sportage on the highway, the screen panel goes completely dark while using the GPS. No warning lights what so ever. This is a major issue for me because I'm depending on the GPS to safely get to where I want to go. I have gotten lost 3 or 4 times in areas that I'm not familiar with because I don't know what exit to take. The moment the screen blacks out on me, it causes me to be so confused and stressed out to the point that I become terrified of causing an accident where people could die, including myself. Kia has recalled 2026 Kia Sportage cars for the same panel blackouts. My Kia Sportage was not. I had taken the vehicle twice to the dealership complaining about the problem (04/01/26 and 04/29/26) and they tell me that there is no issues with the screen panel because they can't replicate the problem at the shop. So far, only the dealership has checked the car. I don't know what else to do. These panel blackouts are happening quite often now. At this moment, I don't trust the screen panel anymore. There is something wrong with it. I have friends in my car when the screen panel blacks out. Upon request, the car will be available for inspection.

NHTSA #11736774

I am reporting a potential safety defect involving the panoramic sunroof of my 2026 Kia Sportage, purchased new in August 2025. On February 19, 2026, at approximately 4:45 PM, while driving around 65 mph, the panoramic sunroof suddenly shattered without warning. The failure was preceded by a loud, explosive sound, after which the tempered glass fractured and collapsed inward into the passenger compartment above the driver’s seat. There was no observable external impact. I did not see any debris or object strike the vehicle, and the glass had no prior damage. Weather conditions were mild (approximately 75°F), and the vehicle was operating under normal highway conditions. Glass fragments fell into the cabin, including onto the driver’s seat and interior surfaces. The sudden noise and glass intrusion created a safety hazard, including risk of injury and driver distraction while traveling at highway speed. The vehicle was taken to a Kia dealership the same day. I was later informed by the dealership in San Angelo, Texas, that the damage would not be covered under warranty and that I would be responsible for the repair. Given the lack of observable impact and the inward failure of the glass, I am submitting this report for evaluation as a potential safety-related defect. The incident raises concerns due to the sudden failure at highway speed, inward breakage into the occupant compartment, and occurrence in a vehicle less than one year old. I can provide photos or documentation upon request. Submitted by: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA #11719464

The glass piece that sits between the front windshield and the sunroof cracked from side to side of the car. When I called the dealership to get it repaired they said this has happened to a few models with this same type of glass between the windshield and the sunroof.

NHTSA #11738800

A door lock malfunction occurred involving the front driver-side door. The vehicle would not unlock or open using the key fob. Multiple attempts were made to unlock the vehicle, but the driver door remained locked and unresponsive. At the time of the incident, a child was secured inside the vehicle in a child safety seat. Access to the vehicle through the driver-side door was not possible. Access was ultimately gained by going to the passenger side, where a window was open, allowing entry to unlock the vehicle from the inside. If the window had been closed, access would not have been possible. Safety Concern This issue presents a serious safety risk because it can prevent immediate access to an occupant inside the vehicle. In emergency situations (such as extreme weather or medical distress), this type of failure could result in injury or worse.

NHTSA #11732670

Battery health has gone down to 31% I’ve had it at a dealership three times and they don’t know what’s wrong. They can’t figure it out, but my mileage has dropped significantly.

NHTSA #11732624

The contact owns a 2026 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that the instrument panel intermittently flashed on and off while driving at various speeds. In addition, the contact stated that while at a complete stop, the speedometer indicated erroneous speeds. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer on several occasions; however, the dealer failed to duplicate or diagnose the cause of the failure. The contact also stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle jerked while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact continued driving, and the headlights turned off with an unknown message flashing on the instrument panel. The contact had taken several pictures and installed a camera in the vehicle to document the failures. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was eventually provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 330.

NHTSA #11698951

When attempting to disengage the cruise control, I must apply sufficient force as to actually apply the brakes. My expectation is that a simple tap on the brake pedal would release the cruise control and begin a coasting mode. This is not the case; the SUV continues at the same forward speed until I press the brake pedal the second time a little harder.

NHTSA #11743733

On start up (date 6/10/26) the dash warned "Check Driver Assistance System," but the car started. Turned off the car, restarted, and this warning was replaced by a yellow "check engine" light, and a remark that the hybrid controller had a fault; the Kia app on my phone indicated the trouble as well. Called for roadside assistance; just before the tow truck operator arrived the faults cleared. Dealer found the stored error code C186387 (CAN BUS time out to navigation error). The error did not cause any safety issues as the car was parked. Another similar error occurred on 6/15/26, this time with check engine lights; the car would not go into drive. Restarting seemed to fix the issue, and my OBD scanner showed no faults in the ECUs.

NHTSA #11744158

5/14/2026 Turned car on and put in reverse, E brake turned on, placed vehicle in park turned off E brake and put the car in reverse. Let brake up and car began to coast back, when I attempted to slow vehicle with brake the brake went all the way to the floor and brakes were not working. Car rolled into the road it a one way, I put the car in drive and it coasted down the road. Brakes continued to go to the floor without stopping or slowing the vehicle. I threw the car in park turned it off and back on and the brakes were restored. I made a service appointment with [XXX] at vandevere for 1:20pm on 5/15/2026. 5/15/2026 Took car to vandever Kia service center to get looked at. The service advisor was Olivia. The issue was unable to be recreated by the service technician. Was instructed to return car for service if issue was to arise again. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA #11738278

I own a new 2026 KIA Sportage Hybrid VIN: [XXX] Odometer reading 1,200 miles On XXX while accelerating at freeway speeds the vehicle suddenly lost power and went into “reduced power mode” which slows the vehicle to a near stop. A Check engine light came on and two messages appeared. One message read:” Follow-up check required 1” and the other read: ”There may be a problem with the engine management system. If the warning light remains on please contact your nearest service center or designated maintenance center as soon as possible.” I immediately took the vehicle to a KIA dealership and they said they replaced an oil pressure sensor that they believed caused the problem. Odometer reading 2,450 miles On XXX while accelerating at freeway speeds the vehicle suddenly lost power and went into “reduced power mode” The same warning messages that appeared during the first power loss incident appeared again. After turning the vehicle off and on a few times the messages disappeared and I was able to drive it again. The vehicle is currently in a second KIA dealership for diagnosis and repairs. Both of these incidents occurred when I was passing tractor trailers on the freeway and had just pulled in front of them after passing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA #11742250

The contact owns a 2026 Kia Sportage HEV. The contact stated that while approaching a traffic signal light at nighttime while it was raining, the brake pedal was depressed, and when the vehicle hit a pothole, the brakes failed to respond. To avoid colliding into the vehicle in front, the contact veered the steering wheel and pumped the brakes. After a few minutes the brakes functioned as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. However, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a claim was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 600.

NHTSA #11736306

Comparing this 2026 KIA Sportage to what I have in the garage with 2019 Lexus RX 350, 2018 MB E300, and 2021 Honda CRV, the front collison of this KIA does not work as it should. If I keep moving the vehicles toward a car, the collision avoidance should give me a warning an brakes for me, however, this 2026 KIA Sportage does not respond at all. In addition, in order for the front sensors on the bumper to work, I need to press on the brake. The dealer said that there is nothing with this system and there is no way to prove it unless I ram into another car.

NHTSA #11734490

I was stopped in the left hand turn lane, then accelerated to cross 2 lanes of traffic. I then let off the accelerator, and applied the brakes to stop, and the brakes did not function. I then rear ended a vehicle in front of me due to the intermittent loss of brakes. It may have also been the propulsion system kept going. Either way the vehicle maintained the same speed of about 15mph until I collided with the vehicle in front of me which stopped me. The brakes worked fine again after the collision. There also was no Forward Collision Avoidance system that was triggered in any way. This vehicle is a Rental Car.

NHTSA #11724621

I am reporting a potential safety issue involving the lane assist system on our Kia Sportage. On Monday morning, my wife was driving on a straight road and began turning left onto a side street. During the turn, the vehicle’s lane assist system suddenly applied a strong steering correction. The steering wheel jerked unexpectedly and momentarily resisted the driver’s attempt to correct the steering. This sudden steering intervention caused the vehicle to veer toward a guardrail, resulting in a collision. The driver did not intentionally steer toward the guardrail and attempted to correct the vehicle, but the steering wheel resisted input at the moment the lane assist system intervened. A dashcam in the vehicle recorded the incident, and the responding police officer reviewed the footage at the scene and concluded that the steering wheel jerked toward the guardrail. The police report notes that the accident appeared to involve a possible vehicle malfunction. After the incident, we discovered that this vehicle is included in NHTSA Campaign 26V046000, which states that a software error may cause the instrument panel display to fail to show critical safety information such as warning lights. If a malfunction warning occurred but was not displayed, the driver would not have been aware of a problem with the system. The lane assist feature in this vehicle also automatically reactivates each time the vehicle is started, meaning the driver cannot permanently disable it. Because the steering intervention occurred unexpectedly during a normal turn and resulted in a collision, we are reporting this incident so it can be reviewed as a potential safety defect involving the lane assist or related vehicle systems.

NHTSA #11724285

On 7 March 2026 our Kia Sportage PHEV died its first time on the highway with less than 1000 miles on it. There were no warning lamps or messages before the issue happened. The car's acceleration pedal stopped working and it slammed us from 70mph to less than 20mph. It had a loud grinding noise and the check engine light came on. My family was almost hit by a semi truck because of this. The car was immediately taken to the Kia dealership we purchased it from. A few days later they told us it was the "high pressure fuel pump" that failed. I asked them to check the fuel system or the engine oil to see if there was any glitter, then, because the grinding noise we would have heard is metal on metal. And any small metal shavings in the wrong place would cause another catastrophic issue. I also asked them if they checked the cam lobe for damage. They did not inspect any of these and told me so. Yet, their paperwork stated they did a 21 point inspection. They told me all that was is checking codes. The dealership is now claiming the car is repaired, without those concerns inspected, and neither my wife nor I feel safe taking the VIN back.

NHTSA #11725315

I bought the car with 9 miles on it, and when I tried to use the windshield washer, it didn't work! I took it to the dealer, and they refused to fix it! They said the car was infested with mice and that it was my problem!!! The car is made with defective materials! All hoses and foam in the car are made from soy beans!! That is rat and mouse food!!!

NHTSA #11726047

Shortly after purchase (9/20/25), I noticed that each trip showed much lower gas mileage than would be expected/reported via the vehicle sticker. Initially, these post-drive reports showed mileage around 17 mpg (city-equivalent). We noticed this quickly-- after the first few trips made. I calculated the mpg in early October & my calculations showed 16.7 mpg. Over the next few weeks, similar mpg was calculated/showing. I reported this finding to Kia St. Charles (point of purchase) early-to-mid October & was told to keep calculating mpg. I called again, indicating the problem continued &that we had a two occasions where we were unable to fill the car with gas-- a technician stated that the low MPG could be related to the long vehicle break-in period. We decided to take the car into the Naperville Kia dealership on 11/25 as this issue persisted. After nearly a week, we were ultimately told that without a check-engine warning, there wasn't much they could do to pinpoint or investigate. A check engine light then came on around 12/10 & we took the car back to Naperville Kia on 12/16 asking to look at the check-engine warning & continued gas mileage issues. We were told there was damage to the underside of the vehicle with the Evap Cannister split open & the under-shield smashed in. The technician, in the inspection video stated this would directly impact fuel economy. We were further told this was the result of damage to the vehicle caused by us, though we had not driven over anything, nor was there any other damage to underside, lower front of vehicle, etc. When I asked why gas mileage was impacted since the purchase in September & how this 'new' issue oddly happened to impact gas mileage, they had no answer. We were told this was outside of warranty & we'd be responsible for repairs. My concern is simple: there is a history of issues with the Evap cannister with Kias. And, the gas mileage issues was reported almost immediately. I feel the issue existed

NHTSA #11708073

I turned on my vehicle and began driving in Philadelphia. I noticed the dashboard where the speedometer was supposed to be was dark. The Apple car play on the right side of the dashboard was on but no other components were visible. Such as turning signal, lane keep assist, speedometer, etc. I was on the highway and this was extremely scary. This vehicle has less then 200 miles. I’ve taken it to Kia and they are looking into it. But this is a big concern. I have videos of this but it won’t let me add them to this file.

NHTSA #11705986